General Services Administration official Laura Stanton said the GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service could help federal chief artificial intelligence officers buy the AI tools and services they need to support missions and enable their agencies to comply with an executive order that seeks to advance the responsible use of AI.
In a blog post published Wednesday, Stanton, assistant commissioner for the Office of IT Category at FAS, announced the appointment of Zach Whitman, chief data scientist at GSA, as the agency’s chief AI officer, or CAIO.
Prior to GSA, Whitman was chief data officer at the U.S. Census Bureau. He previously served as a senior associate at Deloitte.
According to Stanton, CAIOs will drive the development of AI strategies at agencies, serve as senior AI advisers to agency leaders and work with chief information officers and chief information security officers to establish safeguards on AI use to meet cybersecurity best practices and standards.
She noted that CAIOs will also assess products, compile inventories, document use cases, review performance, ensure compliance of AI initiatives with existing policies and laws and implement internal controls, among others.
Stanton mentioned the Multiple Award Schedule – IT Category and governmentwide acquisition contracts such as Alliant 2 and VETS 2 as some of the acquisition tools that CAIOs can use to buy AI products and services.
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